According to the text messages revealed by SBS funE, on December 6, 2015, at 11:38 p.m. KST, Seungri told Employee Kim to “prepare a spot in the main area of Club Arena and call the girls” for foreign investor B and the people with her. Club Arena is a club located in Gangnam district.

Seungri established Yuri Holdings in March 2016 to operate several businesses in the food and entertainment sectors. Late-2015, Seungri had been contacting wealthy investors to get them to invest in his businesses. Seungri’s group chat with Employee Kim and others had already been active before he took office as co-representative of Yuri Holdings.

In response to Seungri’s alleged text, Employee Kim responded, “Two spots in the main area with guards…we’ll take good care of them.” Seungri wrote, “And the girls? Ones that give it well,” and Employee Kim replied, “I’m calling them but I don’t know if they’ll give it well. I’m calling cheap ones first.” Seungri said, “Anyway, do a good job.”

Forty minutes later, Representative Yoo texted, “I’m getting the prostitutes ready right now, so when two prostitutes come, you (Employee Kim) guide them and make sure they get to the hotel room safely.” Employee Kim responded, “Yes. I sent the two men [to the room].” SBS funE reported that they had not been able to confirm whether actual sexual favors had been made. Foreign investor B, who is female, returned to Korea in April 2016 to attend the first shareholders’ meeting of Yuri Holdings.

A few hours later, YG Entertainment released an official statement regarding the news. YG wrote, “Hello, this is YG Entertainment. Here is our statement regarding today’s article about Seungri. Upon checking with the artist himself, the text messages in the article are fabricated and not true. In addition, just as we have always done, we inform you that we will take strong legal action against the proliferation and reproduction of rumors and fake news.”

The Seoul Police Department has launched an investigation into BIG BANG’s Seungri regarding claims that he offered escort services of a sexual nature to business investors.

On February 26, a source from the Seoul Police Department stated, “We have launched an investigation into the escort service claims that have been reported on by the media.” The police will look into the matter closely, and will be drafting a list of individuals named in the related text messages. Seungri is now a person of interest in the investigation.

Earlier in the day, SBS funE released text messages from December 2015 exchanged between Seungri, CEO Yoo of Yuri Holdings (an investment company Seungri was preparing to establish), and an employee. Seungri is seen to be giving orders to plan a meeting at a club in Gangnam to meet with foreign investors. The content of the text messages seem to suggest that the people involved in the group chat were discussing offering escort services to the investors.

YG Entertainment has released a statement denying all allegations, stating, “We have spoken with Seungri, and he has stated that the released text messages were fabricated and are not true.” They stated that they plan to take legal action on the issue.

On February 26, SBS funE released text messages between Seungri, CEO Yoo of Yuri Holdings (Park Han Byul’s husband), and an employee. SBS funE claimed that the messages were evidence that Seungri had offered escort services of a sexual nature to business investors at clubs in Gangnam district. In response, YG denied the report.

Additionally, a source from Park Han Byul’s agency, Fly Up Entertainment, stated, “It is true that Park Han Byul’s husband worked together with Seungri as business partners, but because he is a non-celebrity and because it is his private life, we are in a situation where we currently do not know all the details of the inside story. Moving forward, please refrain from [releasing] any speculative reports regarding Park Han Byul and her husband.”

Following the reports on BIG BANG’s Seungri, the source added, “There are no plans for additional statements. What we have already mentioned before is everything there is.”

Yuri Holdings, the company involved in recent claims surrounding BIG BANG’s Seungri, has released an official statement denying claims that they pursued prostitution services for business investors.

On February 26, SBS funE released text messages from December 2015 that are said to be between Seungri, CEO Yoo of Yuri Holdings (an investment company Seungri was preparing to establish), and an employee. According to the report, the content of the conversation shared in the group chat implies that the participants were discussing hiring prostitutes for foreign business investors.

In response, YG Entertainment has released an official statement denying all allegations and claiming that the text messages were fabricated, along with an announcement that they will take legal action regarding this issue. The Seoul Police Department has launched an investigation into the claims.

Yuri Holdings, the company named in the claims, has now stepped forward to deny the allegations that have been made. Their official statement reads as follows:

Recently, Yuri Holdings has been in the news, since the Burning Sun incident.

Firstly, we take responsibility for the issue as one of the companies holding stocks in Burning Sun.

However, we feel the need to release our official statement regarding the facts surrounding Yuri Holdings as we can no longer sit back and watch articles written on claims and suspicions.

The text messages that have become an issue are all completely false, and we believe someone with malicious intent towards Seungri and our company has fabricated these text messages as a grudge and sent them to reporters. This is fake news that has been published without being confirmed.

Not only do we not have any foreign shareholders in our company, but the text messages were released on a newly-created image based on content submitted by a tip rather than actual screenshots of the conversations themselves. We cannot stay silent on the matter anymore and have decided to give our statement.

We plan to request an investigation into the individual who fabricated the text messages and submitted them to reporters, and we will take legal action to reveal the truth.